Welcome to Eden, a once beautiful planet. It had everything from deep green forests that spanned for miles, to clear blue oceans with sandy white beaches, sweeping mountain vistas, and all the way to chilly tundras. Now however, the world is more one giant wasteland as dusty plains and bombed out ruins dot the landscape. This was a planet that had an evolutionary curve that not only created humanity but varying groups and species of anthromorphic races as well. Millennia passed as this sentient beings grew along side one another. Though while separate cultures exist, suspicion and hatred for those that are different are soon to follow behind. Warfare became the common solution, and the voices of the cool-headed and tolerant on both sides were rarely heard.

Neither side knows who fired the nuclear rocket salvos, either because those in charge are long since gone and dead, or if someone is left who know's the truth... they're certainly not telling. The final day of the war brought the world to a shattering halt though as the strikes were global. No matter the race, every major city center was swept up in the blasts, civilizations were wiped clean over night. The radioactive fallout and following irradiation zones forced once bitter enemies of all races and creeds to seek what unsteady survival and comfort they could from one another.

Several decades have passed since that catastrophic day, shining cities are replaced with welded scrap walls, riveted metal plates, and as much scavenged tech that hands could get a hold of.

One such object, a refurbished military troop transport vehicle, sped through the desert. The metal groaned with each bump hit but otherwise held together. The driver was an older armadillo-morph male, his leathery hide sun-bleached a grey color further adding to his aged form. He looked at a rear-view mirror that had been set up to check on his passengers during the journey. Mr Granite kept his transportation business as professional and safe as he could, and this latest batch of travelers sent shivers through his tough shelled back.

The first figure to catch the bulk of his attention was actually a human male. His hair was cut into a mohawk, he had a few rough scars on his face, and piercing hazel colored eyes that seemed to bore right into you as he watched. The old armadillo recalled when the young man had paid his way aboard, he had introduced himself as 'Enek' but didn't allude to anything beyond that. Taking a better look in at the human, Mr Granite noticed he wore a damaged flak jacket like a vest along with a wear of army issued desert camouflage pants. It was a fair guess from this make that the man was either ex-military or he had raided a surplus somewhere. Mr Granite suspected the former, rather than the latter considering the muscles on the man.

Though Enek sat quietly in the back of the bumpy transport, the next of the passengers was most definitely not. A curiously pink and white colored lynx-morph female sat in her seat, drumming her hands on her thighs and humming some tune only she seemed to be hearing. A smile was spread across her face as she rocked out to the apparent beat. This one had registered under the name of 'Lily', and even as she bounded happily towards the driver when they first met, he had thought she was rather energetic. Likely something of a youngster, her clothes were scant and rather revealing with only a pair of ripped jean shorts that may as well have been called panties instead and white tank-top shirt that just begs the eye to do a double take with the way it blends in with her chest fur pattern.

This next traveler caused him to squint his eyes to try and see her, and the only reason he had known she was female was by her voice when they spoke. Her tone had a sultry, mature quality to it that seemed to match her bright blue eyes. He was lucky enough to get her name, 'Scarlet', considering how reserved and quiet this one wanted to be. He couldn't much tell details about her with the long travelers cloak she had wrapped around her body. A matching scarf and hood were around her head as well, though Mr Granite suspected he had seen hints of a fox-morph beneath it all. She had given everyone in the transport a careful once over as if analyzing them all before settling down into the corner and sinking as far into the seat as she could.

The final member of this mismatched group had been a familiar face to Mr Granite. A younger, blue bird colored, avian-morph man that wore a custom pair of spectacles on his face. His name was 'Jin-Ba-Lee', but everyone who knew him or did business with the man simply called him 'Jin', and he was something of a new age merchant prince. His family controlled holdings of several major trade routes and farms before the apocalypse, and quickly sought to reestablish them after it had all settled down. Jin was a bit of a figurehead, taking place as the company representative whenever contracts were being signed. There were no rags or ripped clothes on this one, just a finely tailored suit custom cut to allow his wings to remain free in the back. Jin pushed his glasses back up his beak as the young avian flipped through a book to pass the time.

Turning his attention fully back the road, the old armadillo let out a sigh of relief as one of his stops became viable just on the horizon. An outpost constructed around a fortunately uncontaminated water source that had been affectionately named by the locals who built it as Rustwater, on account of the water tasting a little rusty. The town itself was mostly built underground, into a series of caverns and tunnels to get at the water reserves beneath the surface, though there were watch towers that rose into the sky. This area made Mr Granite nervous. Yes it was a bastion of civilization, but it always attracted the attention of outlaws and bandits. Careful marauders would lay in wait for caravans or travelers heading to for the safety of the town and hit them just minutes from the gates sometimes. His fingers gripped the steering wheel as he scanned the environment a little closer.

The drive was thankfully uneventful as the transport vehicle pulled up to the outpost gates. Putting the brakes on, the armadillo driver turned around in his seat and faced the crew sitting in back. "Rustwater station folks, who is getting off?"

===

A) Enek, human male

Enek's mind was quiet. To call it empty would be a grave mistake, it was simply... quiet. The human had suffered numerous setbacks and problems getting to just this point alone. The home colony he was born and raised in carried more than a few bitter enemies of humanity. Even with the destruction gripping the land, old hatreds are hard to put aside. Life was not a simple one growing up, roughly outnumbered by the beast-races 3 to 1, Enek was beset by both childhood and adult enemies on every side, with very few allies to call his on. The boy would commonly return home at night with a few new bruises, cuts, bloody lip, or even black eye. Never once did he complain and cry however, if he did then those who caused them would have simply gotten exactly what they had wanted him to do. Each new experience galvanized Enek's resolve and steeled both mind and body for the future though, what didn't kill you made you that much stronger after all.

Replaying a scene from when the human had turned but 14 years old and joined the village guard, the basic training they put him through was no less than he expected, and far from fairly handled. The captains took it on themselves to turn Enek into the new crew punching bag metaphorically, trying to break down his resolve time and time again. Each step along the way though, the fire in his eyes grew stronger and brighter until he had surpassed everyone's expectations. Though the greater whole the village had finally come to respect the human man, Enek knew there were still those felt the opposite and hated him for succeeding.

One night while on watch outside of the village chiefs own home with a fellow guardsman, a cold wind had blown bringing the unnerving sense of malice in the air. "Hey, is it just me or does something feel off tonight?" Enek asked idly to his partner on duty, glancing towards the large deer-morph's direction.

The beastman staggered on his feet for a moment, choking on his breath and the blood running from his mouth. Turning his head to face Enek, he raised a hand towards the human as his eyes rolled back in his head and the large cervine fell forward into the dust. A clean slice visible on the back of his neck.

Enek's own eyes went wide as he tensed, reaching for his weapon. His reactions hadn't been fast enough however, as a shadow moved on the very edge of his vision before a sharp pain across the back of his head followed. The world spun in his vision as the strength drained from his limbs and he fell forward to join his slain guardsman on the ground.

===

"Rustwater station folks, who is getting off?" The words roused him from his thoughts before he could think on what followed after that event.

Raising a hand up to the back of his head, he brushed his fingers through the short trimmed hair and then the thicker hair that formed his mohawk before finding the scar back there. Sitting up, Enek grabbed his pack from the floor of the transport truck and stood up as far as he could in the somewhat cramped space. "Aye, I'm getting off."

He eyed the members of his fellow traveling crew as he exited towards the closed door on the back of the vehicle. The avian glanced up from his book, brushing some dust from the shoulder of his suit and readjusting his glasses before loosing interest and returning to the leather bound tome with a simple "Hmph."

Enek had noticed during the long journey that the cloaked figure sitting in the seat beside him had a certain distinctly... feminine set of curves to it when she had shifted positions once or twice. Though she had not spoken a word to any of them during the trip, he was certain the heavily covered female winked at him with those crystal blue eyes of hers when their gaze met.

As for the pink and white one... She smiled up at him with a joyful gaze, like a kitten with her toy. Her tail twitched back and forth as she waved to him enthusiastically. "Seeya human guy!" He was about to just give the strange feline his name when she broke into a sing-song tone "Human guuuuuuy!" and proceeding to jam on an air guitar making sounds like she was actually riffing on the instrument and ending with a windmill maneuver of her arm across the 'strings'.

Smiling to himself, he caught the drivers eyes in the rear-view mirror and they shared a nod as he pulled open the back hatch and hopped out into the sandy desert. Closing the hatch back up tight and hefting his backpack over one shoulder, Enek watched as the vehicle pulled away form the gates to head further in towards the heart of those dusty wilds.

The gateway into Rustwater was fairly simple, the large scrap metal dome had a circular entrance and a heavy gate that could be pulled across the opening by the troop of guards standing watch. One of the guards, a middle aged human man sized Enek up and spit into the sand. "Welcome to Rustwater. Check your weapons at the gatehouse, no murder, no drugs, no rape, and above all... if you're caught tampering with the water in anyway you'll be executed on the spot." he said, patting the roughly worn down looking assault rifle strung around his shoulder.

Giving him a nod, Enek head towards the aforementioned guard station just beyond the gate where a table was set up with an awaiting inspector. A mouse-morph male, about a head shorter than Enek even with those ears on his head and perhaps a few years younger as well. "Welcome to Rustwater, yadda yadda, let's get this over with eh? So what brings you by our little haven?" He tries to make small talk as Enek sets his backpack on the tabletop for him to check over. Reaching into your pocket for your lucky coin, you find it suspiciously missing, anger flashing across your brow as the first thought in your mind was the image of that cloaked Vixen from the transport and her sly wink.